Used tires are an environmental problem of large proportion. The extremely large quantity of tires discarded each year makes burial in landfills undesirable. Tires take up a tremendous amount of landfill space, are difficult to keep buried, and do not decay.
Tires may be burned and used as a source of energy. However, the burning of tires creates additional environmental problems in the form of air pollution as a result of burning.
Tires may be liquified. However, the energy required for the liquification process of a tire is cost prohibitive. The liquification process also results in a change of the structure of the rubber which makes the rubber undesirable for many uses.
Various devices are found in the prior art for pyrolyzing tires. These devices use heat and relatively high pressures, or subatmospheric pressures. Some of the devices require the introduction of hydrogen into the pyrolisis process. Many of the devices require chopping of the tires, preheating of the tires or other preprocessing.